1. Field of The Invention
The invention relates to a circuit arrangement for channel-specific processing of a multi-channel input signal that may consist of two types of encoded signals, a first type wherein all channel signals are encoded by a bit-oriented method and a second type wherein all channel signals are encoded by a character or byte-oriented method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Circuit arrangements of this type are used, for example, in transmission systems which are capable of transmitting the two types of signals. The two types of signals are distinguished by the different encoding methods according to which they have been encoded. The two methods of encoding which are specifically considered here are PCM-encoding (byte-oriented) and all types of delta modulation (bit-oriented).
By channel-specific processing is meant that the signal of a specific channel is to be processed according to a specific protocol and that this protocol may vary from one channel to another. The word "processing" refers, for example, to the filtering of a channel signal--which will be more extensively discussed hereinbelow--or the transcoding of a signal of the first type into a signal of the second type and vice versa.
The channel-specific processing of a multi-channel signal having a frame structure would be readily possible by means of an extremely fast signal processor provided that such a processor may be inserted at the desired spot at justifiable cost. However, the cost of a single processor is generally too high or its calculation capacity too low. Consequently multiprocessor systems are generally used.